Supervisors info:
Ιακωβίδου Νικολέττα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Τμήμα Ιατρικής, ΕΚΠΑ
Τσεκούρα Δωροθέα, Ε.ΔΙ.Π., Τμήμα Ιατρικής, ΕΚΠΑ
Ξάνθος Θεόδωρος, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιατρικής, Ευρωπαϊκό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου
Summary:
Introduction: Refugee migration is a global social problem occurring due to the ongoing crisis with the heightened conflict in Syria and neighboring countries. These horrific events have forced more than 6 million people to flee their homes and homeland in search of a safer home.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the most common causes of child refugee admission to a pediatric hospital in Attica and compare them with the ones for indigenous child admission in the same hospital.
Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted at a pediatric hospital in Athens. Gender and age stratification of 1 to 10 years was performed for both population groups and the causes of entry, re-hospitalization and final diagnosis were recorded. Depending on the type of symptoms, they were categorized by system or event.
Results: Αν average value of 2.8 ± 2.97 years 251 Greek and 248 refugee children was found. The main place of origin of refugees is Syria (50.4%), Afghanistan (23,3%) and 26.6% from other countries (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Ethiopia). The most frequent reasons for entry for refugees are: systemic manifestations 40%, respiratory symptoms 23.4%, gastrointestinal symptoms 15.3%, prosecutorial 4.8%, checkup 3.6%, cardiovascular symptoms 2%, infections 1.6%, urinary symptoms 1.2%. The category “other” includes various pathological conditions at a percentage of 7%. The following percentages depict the most common causes of entry for Greeks: systemic manifestations 39%, respiratory symptoms 20.3%, gastrointestinal symptoms 15.9%, checkup 6.8%, urinary symptoms 1, 6%, symptoms of cardiovascular disease 1.2%, infections 0.8%, prosecutor’s order 0.4%. The category "other" holds 13.9%. Statistically significant differences with statistical power of the chekups present the causes for entry of "Check up", "Prosecutor's Order" and "Other cause".
Conclusions: Children from indigenous families were observed to be introduced more frequently due to the 'checkup' cause. In addition, for refugee children, the reason for admission to hospital for purely social reasons (prosecutor's order) indicates an increased incidence compared to indigenous children. Finally, indigenous children experience more frequent re-hospitalizations.
Keywords:
Hospitalization, Morbidity, Child health services, Child care, Health policy
